Cage the Elephant
by DominoTyler
Summary: The Dark Lord is dead, but his followers still live. As the war ensues, drama, romance and adventure ensue as well. Pirates, cannibals, and mysterious occurrences take over. Enemies become lovers and lovers become enemies during a race against time. The prize: be on the winning side of the lethal war. Dramione! On temporary hiatus!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the band Cage the Elephant. Anything else you recognise I do not own. ^^

Hello! It feels like all I have out right now are sequels and it's kind of annoying. Also, I felt like I needed more pressure to get posting, so I decided another fanfic is just what I need to keep myself in shape! Because then I feel bad about abandoning stories and go and work harder!  
>The title of this story is "Cage the Elephant," which is a metaphor for society's attempt to control the wild and free spirit within us. It seemed fitting for this story, which I hope you enjoy! Cage the Elephant is also a really rad rock band, you should check them out. ^^<p>

The spell cut through the air like lightening, crackling and splitting through the tension, the fear, the pure elation that came from such a fight. A green light struck the Dark Lord straight in the chest, right from his own wand. He stumbled back a foot or two, his eyes wide, shocked. The Dark Lord had met his end? Inconceivable! It must have been a lie.  
>But it wasn't, as those around could see. The Dark Lord crumbled into dust and bones. A great light split through his reformed body, and he was gone. Was it possible that he had simply perished rather than died? For, could one not fully human, with the tiniest scrap of soul left behind, truly die?<br>Nevertheless, he was gone. Harry lowered his wand and took in a breath, breathing a sigh of relief. The war was over. His friends were safe. He could rest easily knowing that the lives of the world weren't on his shoulders. He had won.  
>The cheer that had erupted around him soon faded, though, as tiny bursts of light spouted from the ground. Harry's wand rose once again. Danger was still here.<br>The fallen Death Eaters! They were rising from the dead, their wounds fully healed, their bodies like new. It was a sickening, horrifying sight, one that shocked the light side into complete, chilling silence. A wail rose up from amongst the crowd, and the laugh of Bellatrix was the only other sound to be heard.  
>"Ha! The Dark Lord never lies! 'If ever the Dark Lord shall fall, his followers will live on, and his purpose will die not!' These are the words he spoke to me not three nights ago! And the prophecy came true!"<br>Harry's jaw dropped in horror as he continued to watch the supposedly destroyed Death Eaters rise from the ground. Could it be true? Had destroying Voldemort caused all of his followers to return? This was quite possibly the worst news he had ever received.  
>"We'll give you time," said Bellatrix, looking directly at Harry, flanked on either side by a reluctant looking Lucius Malfoy and a sneering Rodolphus Lestrange. "But believe me when I say that this war is far from over. I will not rest until I see the end of the modern way, and the rule of the superior!" She laughed again, and stopped abruptly, turning about to look each Death Eater in the eye. And then they were all gone, apparating away, presumably to discuss the fall of the light side.<br>Mass chaos soon began. People fell to their knees and sobbed. Others comforted their friends. But Harry stood where he was, gazing around at all of the people.  
>Had he failed them? No, he had no way of knowing that killing Voldemort would lead to something like this. But was it his job to know?<br>He wanted to tear his hair out, break his wand, throw a tantrum. He hadn't wanted this to begin with!  
>"Harry!"<br>It was Hermione. She was running at a furious pace towards him, her face covered in dirt and blood, her clothes nearly destroyed.  
>She wrapped Harry in a strong embrace, which he returned.<br>She took his hand and began leading him through the fearful people. "Remus is going to make an announcement to everyone, try to calm them all down and get things sorted out, and then we're going to return to Number 12 and begin working on a game plan."  
>"Game plan?" Harry said, more of a statement than a question.<br>"Of course," Hermione replied. "We're not just going to let these guys win. We've been through far too much to simply let it go. They're not going to beat us. We're not giving up."  
>Harry smiled, despite their situation.<br>They weren't giving up. Those were the words he needed to hear to push himself back into action.  
>He nodded sharply.<br>"Right. Let's go on ahead to Number 12. We can start working on the plan there."  
>Behind them, they could hear Remus making his announcement. He basically old everyone that they weren't giving up, that they'd all be safe soon. He told them that the school would be closed for now, but they would sort everything out. Reassurances.<br>"Where's Ron?"  
>"With Fred and George and Ginny."<br>"Let's go and get them."  
>They found the Weasley family gathered around the place Bellatrix had risen, trying to understand how it had happened, though they most likely already knew. It was strong Black Magic at work.<br>"Let's get to Number 12," Harry said, talking to Ron, the twins and Ginny. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going to stay behind to help.  
>Everyone nodded solemnly and followed Harry as he marched off to find a suitable location to disapparate from. Once he located such an area, Harry turned to his closest friends.<br>"Ready?"  
>They all agreed that they were ready in different forms. Ginny smiled and took Harry's hand softly. Harry returned the smile and gave her hand a soft squeeze, and the two disapparated together.<p>

"Everyone, can I please have silence?"  
>It was Remus, talking loudly above everyone else, standing at the head of the table. He nodded once everyone granted him their attention. "Thank you. Now, I think I know of a way to reverse this black magic and return the formerly deceased Death Eaters to their rightful place, thus creating a more manageable number of Death Eaters to deal with. But it's going to take loads of time, dedication, and cooperation."<br>"What is it?" The twins asked, leaning forward intently.  
>Remus stared hard at Harry for a moment before sweeping his gaze across the few members of the Order of the Phoenix.<br>"There was once a book. This book was filled with a great number of curses and spells, all very dark, very evil, very black magic, along with their counter curses. It was passed along, person to person, eldest to eldest, in one of the noblest pureblooded families the Wizarding world had to offer. In this book might be the key to destroying the returned Death Eaters."  
>"Great," Harry said. "Where is this book?"<br>"That's the problem," Remus replied. "I don't know. But I do know someone who does."  
>"Who?" asked Harry.<br>"Sirius Black."  
>The room, previously atwitter with whispering Order members, quickly fell silent.<br>"But...Professor..." Hermione said, looking up from the table. "He's dead."  
>"Until quite recently, I myself believed that as well," Remus said. Despite the day's events, all of the deaths and the horrible occurrences, Remus began to smile. "But then I came upon an old colleague of mine. He had previously worked as an unspeakable, but was let go when the Death Eaters began wreaking havoc on the Ministry. He spoke of the Veil. And, my friends, it turns out that Sirius is retrievable."<br>Harry leapt to his feet so quickly that his chair tumbled over backwards.  
>"He is?" Harry replied eagerly. "Is he alright?"<br>Remus was still smiling, albeit softly. "He is very much okay. In fact, the Veil causes one to age backwards day by day. Sirius has lost three years of physical age. He should be rejuvenated and fresh when we get him back."  
>"Then let's go get him!"<br>Remus shook his head. "Patience, Harry. These things take time. First things first, we need to think of a way to get inside..."  
>The group plotted and planned until their planners were sore and they had to call it a night.<br>But Hermione Granger didn't want to go to sleep. Because sleeping meant she was allowing her mind to wander to whatever it felt like wandering to. And that could be very dangerous after what had happened that day. She didn't want to think of all of her friends who were now dead. All of those people, gone, and the ones who had done it allowed to come back to life and wreak more havoc on this chaos-filled planet...  
>But, more than anything, Hermione Granger didn't want her mind to wander to an even that had happened a few minutes before the Dark Lord breathed his last. To a small alcove just outside the great hall, where the battle was going on.<br>Because in that alcove, amidst a duel with the enemy, the enemy kissed her.


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing much happened besides planning over the next handful of days. It was a lot to plan. Their plan had to be absolutely perfect, or they'd be in a lot of trouble.  
>Hermione spent the majority of her time in the library, trying to find anything she could on this mysterious spell, but she couldn't find anything like it. Of course she couldn't-it obviously hadn't been published. She'd be willing to bet that the only reason Voldemort had known of the spell was because Bellatrix must have known about it, being a member of the Black family.<br>Hermione liked to read because she was able to keep her mind off of other things. Things such as what had happened with Draco Malfoy outside of the Great Hall.  
>But books couldn't hide the fact that it had happened. Hermione sighed and sat back, staring down at the pages of her book. It was as if it happened just a few minutes ago. Hermione brought her fingers to her lips, pressing where Draco's had been. She shook her head.<br>She'd been running desperately to the Great Hall, needing to find Harry and Ron, to make sure they were alright. That was when someone grabbed her roughly by the arm and yanked her into the alcove. Hermione went to scream, but a hand clasped over her mouth. She pointed her wand into the neck of her assailant, but he suddenly let her go. Hermione spun around to find it was Draco Malfoy, staring down at her solemnly.  
>Without a thought at why he may have stopped her, Hermione spat in his face, turning to bolt away. She was so close!<br>But Draco gabbed her wrist, at the same time wiping Hermione's saliva from his face.  
>"What are you doing, kidnapping me? Let go! Why aren't you with mummy and daddy? Why aren't you trying to protect your holy master? He's about to lose, you know. Go on! Save him!" She was screaming. She didn't want to admit how scared she really was. "Save him!"<br>Draco's eyes narrowed. "I wanted to find you."  
>Hermione blinked.<br>"To make sure you were still alive."  
>A pause. What was he saying? "Why?"<br>Draco blinked now.  
>And then he kissed her. It was warm and rough and made Hermione's vision sparkle. It was so sudden and so comforting and so welcoming that Hermione forgot they were in a war. That is, until Draco pulled away, watched her for a few seconds, kissed her once more, softly and sweetly, and dashed off. He wasn't running towards his side, he wasn't running towards her side. He was running straight down the middle. He was running to his own side.<br>Hermione shook her head. She blinked back to the present and realised someone was saying her name.  
>"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, snapping in his face.<br>Hermione jumped back at the sudden noise and shook her head.  
>"Oh-sorry, Harry. I've been pretty out of it lately."<br>"I've noticed," Harry said bitterly. But he shook his head and smiled at her. "Whatever. What I wanted to say is you're needed downstairs. We've got a plan."

Hermione stood at the entrance to the ministry, the plan running through her head over and over again. It was so simple that she was surprised it had taken them this many days to come up with it. It was so simple that no one on the inside of the ministry would ever think of it.  
>All they would do is walk in and take Sirius back.<br>It was just she, Ron and Harry. They were famous since Voldemort's downfall five days ago, and anywhere they went they were surrounded by people who wanted autographs. It was one of the strangest things ever, but something Hermione figure she'd have to get used to it.  
>Harry walked in first. Just as was predicted, they were immediately surrounded by people who either demanded to know their business in the ministry or who wanted to praise them and get a photograph to be autographed.<br>"Please, we're just here to visit a friend of ours at work," Harry said, holding up his hands. He jerked his head at Ron. "His dad. He forgot his lunch. We were just running it in for him."  
>A lady who had seemed ready to literally kick them out the door eyed them skeptically, but stepped aside to allow them to pass. They headed for the elevator, passing through the crowds of people. They got some excited, happy, and grateful looks, but they also received quite a few spiteful looks. It seemed there were a lot of Dark Lord supporters at the ministry. That could pose as a problem if they weren't careful.<br>They waited for the lift quite impatiently. When it opened, they had their fingers crossed that it would be empty, but there were three people in it-one was a perfectly normal man. The other two were not-they were joined at the hip. Literally.  
>Harry pressed the button again. "I'll just wait for the next one," he said as the doors closed.<br>They were lucky when the next lift showed up empty. They scuttled inside and waited for the lift to take them down to the darkest parts of the ministry, to the mysterious department of mysteries. The place where they would once again be united with Sirius.  
>Harry was itching to see his godfather again. He took to rocking on his heels to let loose some of his nervous energy, but nothing helped.<br>Hermione took his hand and squeezed lightly, offering up a smile.  
>"Everything's going to be alright once we get Sirius back."<br>Harry nodded.  
>Just then, the lift doors slid open. The three of them stepped out of the lift and into the dark department of mysteries. They retraced their steps from the last time they were there without hesitation-every step was crucial to the plan. If they set off an alarm or a trap, it was over.<br>A strange music played around them. It was dark and creepy, played on a piano that plinked when they keys were struck. It echoed around them, making Hermione sleepy and more afraid than she really was or knew she had any need to be.  
>Finally, they came to the veil. This was going to be no easy task. Hermione took a deep breath, and the three of them stepped towards the fabric, hoping this would go quick and easy.<p>

…

Hey! ^^ Hope you enjoyed! Just drop me a review and let me know it it's worth continuing. If not, I won't bother…


	3. Chapter 3

Hello! I think it's a good idea to post a new chapter of this story every weekend, don't you? I think that's what I'll do. Fridays through Sunday are my post days. ^^ Well, hope you enjoy this action packed chapter!

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Remus said that the easiest way to do this would be if Hermione went in by herself. Because she was so much smaller than the boys, she could maneuver more easily, and because she was nearly as strong as them, she could pull out Sirius just as well as if either of the boys went down.

Hermione made sure the magically strengthened rope was tied tightly to her belt, which she had made sure would not come loose or tear, and she turned to her best friends. She gave them a smile and took a deep breath.

"Well," she said brightly. "Wish me luck!"

Harry grinned. "Good luck."

Ron gave her a solemn nod. "We'll keep you safe, 'Mione."

Hermione returned the nod and turned around to face the Veil. Then, she stepped right through.

A strange sensation of falling came over Hermione's entire body. It was like that feeling you get when you're falling in a dream, and you convulse in your sleep as you "land" on your mattress, bolting upright in the dark. It was a constant feeling. After a moment or two, Hermione got herself under control and stopped her constant spasms in order to assess her current situation. She really _was _falling. To where, she had no idea. She couldn't see anything up or down. Would she continue falling forever and ever? She hoped not. Maybe she'd have to fall for several years to reach Sirius, since he'd fallen for that long?

Her suspicions, though, were correct, and she landed lightly on her bottom after several more moments of falling. Things seemed to move only in slow motion around here. It took an obnoxious amount of time for her to finally get to her feet, and struggling to walk was killing her. She decided to call and see if anyone was there. There was only the response of a few scratching sounds.

Hermione fumbled for her wand in the dark as quickly as she possibly could. It was like trying to run through water. The struggle was futile and frustrating.

Once she found it, Hermione held out her wand in front of her and spoke. "Lumos!" It sounded as though there was cotton in her mouth, but the command worked just fine. The tip of her wand ignited, and the light spread, however slowly, throughout the room. Hermione then saw something quite horrifying. Skeletons.

She wished to scream, but the sound came so slowly that it was completely pointless to even attempt. So she clamped her mouth shut tightly and placed her hand over her lips. Her eyebrows scrunched up. There it was…those were the clothes Sirius was wearing when he'd fallen through.

She shook her head. No. This couldn't be right. Remus said that his friend had told him Sirius would still be alive, that he had been aging backwards. Not…this.

Hermione shook her head and moved towards the skeleton. Maybe…she sighed and sat down next to the skeleton. It moved.

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron had found themselves in quite a bit of a predicament. They had been followed.

"What do you think you're doing here?" a strong woman voice demanded. "You need to leave at once! I don't care if you _are _Harry Potter! You can't simply go wherever you please!"

Harry whipped around, looking away from the curtain that Hermione had jumped into a few minutes ago and found himself staring into the eyes of the most evil woman ever.

Delores Umbridge.

Her eyes narrowed on her toad-like face, her squat little arms holding the others hand in front of her squat little body.

Harry glared back. "This doesn't concern you, Professor. This is Order work. The Order is welcome to do whatever they wish at the Ministry of Magic, and you know it."

"Then why is it that you had to sneak your way down here like the little snake you are?"

"Because we needed to get away from the spies like _you."_

"Spy? For whom would I be a spy for?"

"The Lestranges, perhaps? Or the Malfoys? Or one of the many other Death Eaters who have returned to continue the Dark Lord's work?" Umbridge's eyes turned towards Ron, who had spoken this last statement.

"Perhaps you are correct," Umbridge replied. "Or perhaps you are wrong." Her back straightened perceptibly. "But either way, you have to leave. Now."

Harry turned away from her. "I don't think so."

"Harry…"

"Just ignore her, Ron. Maybe she'll go away."

"But _Harry…"_

"What _is it, _Ron?"

Ron pointed towards the door, which at least fifty Death Eaters had just flooded through.

Harry swore. "Ron, call the Order. I'll try and hold them off."

"Don't you want my help?"

"You have to watch for any signs of Hermione! Just call them, now!"

While Ron was working on conjuring his patronus, Harry was in a battle-ready stance, thousands of spells filtering through his mind as he waited for the Death Eaters to make their first move. He recognised most of them. None of the more evil ones were there. It was mostly the lower ranked guys, but they were still dangerous no matter what.

A Death Eater towards the front made the first move. Harry defended himself, and the battle began.

Hermione crouched next to the skeleton, watching in horror as it moved, under normal speed, and slowly began to sprout skin and hair. Eyes, familiar, grey eyes, grew in the sockets, and the cracked and deteriorating bone cleaned to a shiny white and strengthened like steel. The hair continued to grow on the head and face. The hair reached just past the skeleton's shoulders, the beard and moustache reaching well down his chest, merging into one, tangled mass of jet black hair. There wasn't a single wrinkle or strand of grey. It was a brand new Sirius. Fingernails grew, teeth straightened, and finally, the grey eyes blinked and Sirius looked around, stuck in this strange slow motion just as Hermione was.

He turned to Hermione, finally, wincing at the harsh light of her wand. His voice was rather raspy, but Hermione caught what he said. "H…er…mi…o…ne…?"

Hermione's mouth formed a wide, excited smile, and she threw herself at Sirius. "S…i…ri…us!"

"Wh…at…s…go…in…g…on?"

"La…ter…we…have…t…o…go…"

He nodded and Hermione helped him to his feet. He was a little wobbly, but soon got used to walking again. Hermione aimed her wand straight up and fired red fireworks, hoping they made it out.

Outside of the Veil, the fight was raging strong. Random Order members were popping up out of nowhere. It was just like what was going on when Sirius had originally fallen, except this time the fight was in the favour of the Order members. Umbridge was watching on angrily as the majority of the Death Eaters keeled over. Harry couldn't help a quick smirk.

"Harry!" Ron called.

Harry turned to see what Ron needed, and was promptly hit with a spell that sent him stumbling backwards.

Ron caught him and pointed out the sparkling red lights coming from the Veil. "D'you think it's her?"

"What else would it be?" Harry said, standing up. "Come on, let's get them out of there!"

Remus called the Order members to surround Harry and Ron and the Veil to make sure nothing happened while they were extracting Sirius.

Harry and Ron began cranking on the pulley that would lift Hermione out and, if she was holding on to him, Harry's godfather as well.

The pulley was making an awful squeaking sound as they pulled, but the rope was coming up, and Hermione should have been emerging from behind that curtain any moment now…

There was a horrifying _snap!_ And the pulley fell from the ceiling with a clutter. Harry jumped at the rope and pulled hard, but he was slipping. His hands were burning and he wasn't so sure he'd be able to hold them until someone helped him, let alone pull them up by himself.

Suddenly, he felt someone helping him. Assuming it was Ron, Harry didn't turn. Instead, he concentrated hard on getting two of his favourite people out of such a dangerous situation.

Hermione's head came through first. She took a deep breath, as if she were coming up from beneath the surface of water. She pushed Sirius up and through the Veil, and then she pulled herself along as well. The two laid there, gasping for air, like they'd been drowning and, promptly, rescued.

"Thanks, Ron, I - " He stopped his speech the moment he realised that it wasn't Ron who had helped him pull Hermione and Sirius from the Veil.

"_Malfoy?" _Harry whispered, his voice barely audible above the loud sounds of fighting.

Without replying or explaining his actions, Draco turned on his heel and fled the room altogether, without a single look back.

Harry, panting from his hard work, turned to Hermione, who was now kneeling beside his godfather, sobbing tears of joy as she tried to help him up. Something swelled inside of Harry and he couldn't resist the urge to pounce on his godfather, giving him the biggest hug he could muster.

"What happened?" Sirius asked, looking in between them. "How long have I been out?"

He must have presumed that this was the same fight he had fallen during.

"I thought I was dead."

"So did we, Sirius," Harry said, grinning. "But you're not. Come on, Hermione." He looked at Ron. "Ron. We need to get Sirius home. We have a lot of explaining to do."

Hermione and Ron nodded, getting to their feet. Hermione fumbled with her belt, letting the rope and the belt clutter to the floor. She unleashed an extreme spell, knocking over several of the Death Eaters surrounding them.

"We're getting Sirius out of here, Remus," Hermione said, casting a look over her shoulder. "Be safe and get home quick."

Remus grinned. "No problem. I'll see you in a little bit. You can count on it."

Hermione returned his grin. Everyone was just so happy, despite the fact that they were in a battle. Hermione turned and fled the room with Harry and Ron, who were helping Sirius run between the two of them.

Umbridge, the toad, tried to block their way, but all it took was a small _Expelliarmus! _To knock her out of their path.

And then they were gone, running Sirius through the streets, until they were finally at a proper apparition point, and they were soaring through the night.

…

How was that for a return of Sirius scene?

I was listening to Pink Floyd's Delicate Sound of Thunder Live tape(s) while I wrote this. It was bound to turn out awesomely. I mean, the crux of the battle went down during the end of Comfortably Numb and the beginning of Run Like Hell. Duh. ^^

If you like what you see, feel free to drop me a review! I really appreciate them, and they help me to become a better writer. Every single one of them help me along, so thanks to you who are reviewing and favouriting and alert setting…I love you all! Even the people I don't know are here… I'm glad you enjoy it enough to come back.

Well, aloha! I'm thinking about updating several of my other stories todays, so to my wonderfully loyal readers, keep an eyes out~! ;)


	4. Chapter 4

The moment they landed on the doorstep of Number 12 and they were safely inside, Sirius was asking question after question. It took them almost a half an hour to explain, and about an hour and a half more to convince him that what they were telling him was the truth.

He shook his head for the fifteenth time. "No. I just can't accept it. It _can't _have been two years. It _can't _have been!"

"I'm sorry, Sirius," Harry said solemnly.

Sirius hung his head, as if finally accepting this dire news.

"But, hey," Ron said. "Look on the Brightside. You're two years younger than you were when you fell in there!"

Sirius gave Ron a look like that could also be one of the worst parts of the situation.

He shook his head. "I can't believe you defeated the Dark Lord, though, Harry. The war has been such a big part of my life…what do we do now that it's over?" He seemed to be avoiding the topic of his backwards aging and his consistent confusion.

"Well, it's not exactly…over," Harry replied, scuffing the floor with the toe of his sneaker. "See, all of the Death Eaters…they've come back."

"What do you mean, 'They've come back?'"

"All of the Death Eaters that died came back to life the moment Lord Voldemort was killed by Harry," Hermione replied. "It's sort of hard to explain. See, they've been saved using Black Magic."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Black magic? You mean magic that has been created by my family?" He looked back and forth between Harry, Hermione and Ron. Things were clicking behind his eyes. "Is that the only reason you came for me? You needed my _assistance?"_

"No, of course not!" Hermione exclaimed.

Sirius was having none of it. "It _is! _Why haven't you come for me before now, then? Why not right when I got stuck in that bloody curtain?"

"We've only known how to save you since we found out about the curse!" Hermione tried to explain. "We would have come back the moment you were gone had we known how! You know that, Sirius."

"Do I?" Sirius responded, still sour, but also sort of understanding what they were trying to tell him.

"Of course," Harry replied. "You don't know what I went through. I would have dove in there that very moment had so many people not been restraining me. You should have seen me. I was a wreck for months. I have been all the way until now." He flashed a quick smile. "It's nice to have you back."

Sirius couldn't help smiling. "Ah, it's behind us, isn't it?"

He wrapped his arms around the three, and they talked and caught up until, one by one, the Order members returned.

Remus stood at the head of the table and grinned around at everyone. "Everyone, the mission was a complete success," he said happily. "I believe a brief celebratory dinner is in order."

"Already on it, Remus," said Mrs. Weasley from the stove.

In minutes, Mrs. Weasley had before them an entire, four course meal in celebration. All of Sirius's favourites. He'd chowed down firsts, seconds, and thirds in mere minutes. The only thing that stopped him was that they'd run out of potatoes, and he refused to eat anything more without potatoes.

Remus sighed in content as he stood at the head of the table once again.

"Well, folks," Remus said. "We've got our great friend Sirius back. And while we're so glad he's back and would have saved him even if he was the most unhelpful man on the planet, he is, in fact, one of the most helpful men on the planet. Sirius?"

Sirius nodded at his best friend. "Yes, Mooney?"

Remus grinned, as if happy to hear his old nickname. "I am told you know of the whereabouts of the Great Book of Black Magic. Correct?"

"Aye," Sirius replied. "It be in the ocean."

Remus paused a moment. "Er…the ocean?"

Sirius nodded. "It's retrievable, don't fret. But it could take some time to find. I've got a map up in my room. Shall I fetch it?"

Remus nodded. "Do. We'll wait."

The map was incredibly helpful. Hermione was able to easily decipher it, and found that it dwelled on a mysterious island at the centre of the Atlantic Ocean. It would take several days to reach it, it seemed, as airplanes didn't land there, as it was mostly trees, and commercial ships steered clear, because it was surrounded by reefs and mangroves, was to use their own, magically strengthened ship.

"Now," said Remus during one of their following Order meetings. "We can only spare three Order members for the time being, as there have been more and more attacks from Death Eaters, and we need people to help. Do we have any volunteers?"

Sirius was the first to raise his hand. He raised it so fast his joints cracked. He wanted to get out and do something with his life, considering he'd missed out on two years of it. The next was Harry. He couldn't stand being away from Sirius, now that he had him back. Last was Hermione – she didn't want to leave Harry, and escaping Ron and Lavender sounded like a very good idea at the moment. Plus, anything that kept Draco Malfoy from her mind was her new favourite hobby.

"Alright, then," said Remus, a small smile on his lips. "We've got our crew. The three of you, it's up to you to get that book. How you go about retrieving it is up to you, but I definitely wouldn't recommend apparating there, as there's no telling how far from a hospital that place is."

"We'll go with the boat plan," Hermione said. "We'll get a crew in Isla de Medusas, and we'll sail straight on to the correct coordinates."

Remus nodded. "Excellent plan, Hermione. Meanwhile, we'll fend off the Death Eaters in the area and try and keep them in the area and not allow them back into the muggle world. Meeting over. Sirius, Harry and Hermione, you should get some sleep. It'll be an early start tomorrow, you know."

Hermione headed straight up to her bedroom. She shut the door and turned to face her bed. With a sigh, she flopped face down. She knew that, even with magic, this ship ride would take them at least two or three weeks at top speed, counting on them not running into any obstacles. The longer the better, she decided. More time to keep a certain blonde out of her thoughts. She wondered if she'd ever get over this. She knew she was never going to see Malfoy again. Why waste her thoughts on him? But, somehow, she couldn't help it when her thoughts turned to him. She hoped this would get easier over time. She really did.

…

I wrote this chapter over the course of three days…it seems very disjointed to me…ugh…but I didn't know how to fix it .

Well, midterms are over, so I have a little more time to write, so I might update about twice a week now, if I can get to it. Yeah… Bye now! ^^


	5. Chapter 5

My good friend SunFrog31 said of all of my stories, I should update this one first, so, here it is! Chapter 5 of Cage the Elephant! Enjoy! ^^

…

Hermione was woken early the next morning by Harry shaking her shoulders lightly, telling her that Mrs. Weasley had packed them an early breakfast before they needed to catch their portkey. Hermione followed him downstairs, having gone to bed dressed so she would be perfectly ready whenever she had to be. All she had to do was lace up her boots and cover her hair with a hat and she was ready.

"Alright," Sirius said, peeling his hard-boiled egg. "What's the official plan?"

Hermione spread out their map on the table, holding it open with glasses of orange juice. "I copied the maps for you two last night. It appears as though we'll all need one." She handed one map to Sirius and one map to Harry. "I was examining the map closer last night, and it appears that the island we are searching for is in fact three islands. It was very lucky Remus chose three volunteers, as we are each going to have to take our own ship and explore each of the three islands."

"So we each need our own ship and our own crew," Sirius summed up. "Is that safe? Should we get a few other people to come along?"

"It wouldn't hurt," Hermione agreed. "But it's such terribly short notice, and I'm not sure anyone would want to volunteer at such an awful hour. Merlin knows I wouldn't be up this early under normal circumstances." She added that last part mostly to herself.

"Pardon me." Hermione turned in her seat to see Neville was leaning up against the wall just behind them. He grinned at them. "Sorry to interrupt, but none of you seemed to notice I was here when you came in. I wouldn't mind volunteering to come along. And my stuff is all still packed from moving in here. I don't need any preparations, so if you really need someone, I'm open to the idea."

Sirius grinned. "Neville. You sure have grown since I saw you last. I do believe you just found yourself a job. You can go with Hermione. Is that all right with you, Granger?"

Hermione smiled at Neville. "Of course it is. Welcome to the crew. You're my new first mate."

Neville laughed, taking a seat at the table, setting down the glass of milk he must have come into the kitchen for in the first place.

They continued their planning over breakfast until their clocks let them know they had about ten minutes to get to the portkey, which happened to be a spoon, set out in the middle of an old amusement park just down from where Grimmauld Place was. They all left the kitchen to retrieve their bags and were out the door in a matter of minutes. They apparated to the amusement park and, when the time came, each grabbed a hold of the spoon and allowed it to drag them to where they needed to be.

The Isla de Medusas was one of the main pirating communities left in the Wizarding World. It was full of ready sea-men, and many people who would jump at an opportunity to be a part of a crew, good side or bad. Sirius, Harry, Neville and Hermione decided that the best course of action was to get an amount of people triple the size of what an average crew would need to be, and split everyone up according to talents. They each asked questions as they interviewed people outside of a bar, catching people as they went in and trying to avoid those who came out.

They'd been interviewing for nearly three hours, and still didn't have as many people as they desperately needed.

Finally, when they needed just about five people more, someone walked passed, headed into the bar. He looked as able-bodied as any other man who'd signed on, so Sirius called him over. His face was covered in mud and dust and scars, his hair was in complete disarray and coated in so much mud that Hermione couldn't distinguish whether or not he was blond or brunette. His clothes were dishevelled and he wore no shoes. But he was well muscled, walked with his back erect, and seemed like a soldier.

"Hey, you there!" Sirius called out as he passed by. The boy seemed to recognise them immediately, but Hermione wasn't so sure. He could be…but why would he be here?

"Yes?" His voice was too scratchy from sleep-deprivation and lack of use for her to really be sure of his identity.

"Which side?"

The boy shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Do you have a job?" Sirius questioned.

"No."

"Then yes, it does matter. Which side?"

"Previously Voldemort's side. Recently dropped out and went my own way."

He approached the little desk Sirius was seated at, apparently curious. "Are you looking for a pirate crew?"

"Indeed," Sirius said, grinning. "Are you interested?"

"Why?"

"Because I need more members for my crew, of course."

"No, I mean, why are you forming a pirate's crew?"

Sirius grinned. "Lean closer."

The boy did.

"We're looking for something so amazing that it could bring the end to the Death Eaters."

The boy's eyes brightened. "I'm in."

"Atta boy!" Sirius exclaimed, turning a piece of parchment around and handing him a quill. "Sign in here, right here."

"Do I have to use my real name?"

"I don't care who you are, just so long as you're not a threat," Sirius said. "Anyone who wants a hand in ridding the world of the other side is a friend of ours, right, crew?"

Harry and Neville seemed just as suspicious of this boy as Hermione, but, like Hermione, weren't able to distinguish him through the thick layers of grime.

"Of course," Hermione said finally, looking into the boys eyes. "Welcome aboard."

The boy smiled, and just then, Hermione was almost sure she knew who he was.

But why would Draco Malfoy be on the Isla de Medusas?

…

The next day, when they were sure everyone they had hired had met up at the pier by the newly purchased (previously refurbished) ships the four had gotten the day before, they split up the crew. Hermione was given the most trustworthy men, and a majority of the men Sirius had known to be trustworthy men in his past, along with Neville and a few other men who appeared to be on track. And the boy who could quite possibly be Draco Malfoy. Sirius had sent her to his side because he appeared to be "almost as bright as the brightest witch."

Then, they packed onto their ships and were off.

Hermione had read plenty about ships in her Hogwarts days, so much so that the role of Captain came almost naturally to her. She directed her crew in the direction she wanted to go, using as many nautical terms as she could, and _they understood her. _That was imperative, that she was able to communicate with all of these men.

She didn't really have to do much besides make sure all of the men were doing what they were meant to and consult her map to make sure they were going in the right direction. The morning before, when they'd been going over plans, they'd split up the three islands that somehow created one country sort of thing. Hermione got the one on the far right, and she'd magicked their course onto the map and the position of their ship so she knew where they were at all times. It was a fun job, being captain. She kind of enjoyed it. Maybe she'd be a pirate after the war. Or a privateer. It all depended on which side won this war. She almost caught herself rooting for the Death Eaters. Hermione chuckled and said to herself, "A pirate's life for me."

And they were off. The trip would take almost two weeks, and that was if they ran into little or no obstacles during the course of the two weeks. Obstacles were almost inevitable, and just as they were headed off into the hot, afternoon sun, Hermione could see a storm off on the horizon.

…

Oh, my gosh, you have no idea how much I'm already in love with this story. Those of you who've read my other stories, have you noticed a pattern? I'm obsessed with pirates…maybe I should write a Pirates of the Caribbean fic…hm…just a thought!

Speaking of thoughts, let me know yours! What did you think of this chapter? Like it, love it? Hate it, indifferent? It matters to me. ^^ Review if you get the chance, love you all, bye! ^^


	6. Chapter 6

Only about 2 weeks left of school, and then I'll be on a writing roll! So just hold in there, and enjoy this chapter! ^^

...

Hermione and Neville were at the stern of the ship, watching the roiling, piled up storm clouds approaching them quicker and quicker. They were barely off the port - Hermione could still see a speck of land - and they'd run into their first obstacle. She hoped this wasn't some sort of bad omen.

The clouds were terrifyingly dark, except when lightening exploded like electric veins through the bulky vapour. As exciting as it was to watch, Hermione couldn't help but worry. She wasn't really sure what to do in the events of a storm - her books had left that important note out.

She quickly beckoned to one of the men making his way across the ship.

"You, there!" Hermione said, capturing his attention. The man pointed to his chest and Hermione nodded, waiting for him to approach.

"Cap'n," he said, and Hermione couldn't help but feel giddy at the title. Captain Granger.

"What is your name?"

"Sawyer, Cap'n."

"Well, Sawyer," Hermione said, "I need you to tell the crew to ready the ship for a storm."

"Aye," Sawyer replied. "Shall I take down the sails, then?"

Hermione nodded. That made sense. "Right. Take down the sails."

The man nodded and turned, shouting orders to the others, using all of the terms Hermione knew and even a few more. She'd have to do some studying.

"Do you think it's going to be a bad one?" Hermione asked, turning to Neville, who was staring off at the clouds.

"I think it's safe to say we might get a little bit of damage tonight," Neville said. "It's gonna be a wild one."

Hermione had been afraid of that. She turned to look out at the clouds and suddenly felt a drop of rain on her face.

Within minutes, they were in the storm. There was howling winds and pelting rain and roaring waves and hail and thunder and lightning and everything else that came with a storm. Hermione had trouble standing upright and was worried she or any of the other crew members might be thrown overboard into the mix. Gripping hard to the railing, she managed to pull herself across the ship, hoping to reach stairs leading down below deck, where several of her men were trying to convince her to take cover within.

"Get below deck, Cap'n!" shouted one of the men.

"I'm trying!" She called back. Under normal circumstances, she would have demanded to be allowed to help. But if there was one thing Hermione was afraid of, it would be water, especially the ocean. And she was NOT going to be thrown overboard.

"Someone help the Cap'n!" shouted someone. "She's a woman for Merlin's sake!"

Hermione tried to retain at lease a bit of dignity by inching her way a bit closer to the stairs, but the moment she let go of the rail she fell to her knees.

Just before she slipped and fell on her face, though, strong hands lifted her to her feet and up against a firm chest. Her legs were out from under her and she was in a rock solid embrace. She was ring carried bridal style down the stairs and into her quarters, the ones she'd merely glanced at when she'd first got into the ship. She was on the bed in seconds, and the man who had helped her was already halfway out the door.

"Wait!" she called, holding out her hand, as if that would actually help.

The man stopped. He was tall, lean, and she knew him to be the boy covered in mud, the one whose identity she was unsure of, as he'd simply signed his name as "M."

He stopped when she called out to him.

"T-turn around," she said. All of the rain would have washed the dirt away, allowing her to be quite sure of his identity.

He began to move slowly around, using the doorframe to keep him steady as the ship rocked back and forth.

Hermione heard a sharp intake of breath when his eyes met hers. It was her own breath.

"D-Draco?" she said, though no sound came out. His eyes were cold, lifeless, and the look he gave her was one of a person who had completely given up on life. She was about to tell him to come closer, for a reason she didn't understand (probably to either demand to know why he had kissed her or to just stare at him awkwardly as she thought of something stupid to say), but just as she had cleared her throat and prepared to call to him, the ship rocked violently. Hermione tumbled backwards on her bed and her blanket ended up on top of her face. By the time she had struggled out from underneath her blanket, Draco was gone.

...

Draco was out of there quick as a flash. He'd known he couldn't keep his identity hidden much longer, but he wished he could have prepared himself to tell her who he was, especially since he'd kissed her so abruptly and she probably wanted to lob his head off with something sharp and rusty and covered in poison.

He mentally slapped himself in the face as he headed back on deck and began helping the men keep the ship from drowning. He knew very little about ships, but most of it seemed like plain and simple common sense, and since he could use magic whenever he screwed something up, he figured it was a pirate's life for him.

The storm was still raging on almost an hour later and Draco was tired enough to drop dead. He wished he could. He was too much of a coward to kill himself. He wished someone would just put him out of his misery now. That way he wouldn't have to deal with explaining his kiss to Hermione. He'd rather jump overboard.

...

Hermione waited out the remainder of the storm below deck, staring at her magicked map, watching them slowly and easily move off course, but there was absolutely nothing she could do about that right now. So she watched, mildly entertained, as the boat swirled and turned, trying to keep her mind off of Draco.

It was just what she needed for him to come aboard, ruin the whole expedition by making her think about him. The next thing you know she'd be fancying him!

Hermione flushed deep red at the thought and scolded herself.

"No," she said. "You won't like Draco. Bad." And she returned to her maps.

…

Sorry it's so short. :/ I meant for it to be longer, but I've been working on this chapter all week! I'm so scatterbrained at the moment…I just finished writing a novel and things are complicated at the moment, but I won't abandon my stories because I'm not like that! ^^ Please review if you get the chance, and thanks so much for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

_Creak…_

_Creak…_

_Creak…_

_Creak…_

Hermione moaned and rolled over. Only she'd misjudged the amount of bed-space remaining to her right in her unconscious state, and she was awakened as her body slammed to the floor of her cabin. She let out a squeak and her eyes flung open wide. Then she moaned again and fell into her pile of blankets on the floor, her hair flying down around her. Her hair was in complete disarray, as it had dried as she slept and most probably looked absolutely ridiculous.

She'd fallen asleep during the eye of the storm the day before, still in her clothes and boots. Now she got to her feet stepped out of her blankets, setting them back on her bed in a heap. She combed her fingers through her hair, pulling it back tightly as she plaited it for a braid. Several frizzy pieces fell around her face, but it was the best she could do. As she braided, she meandered over to her desk and peered at her map. Her candle had dripped wax onto it, nearly gluing it to the table, but she could still find their current position, as it was readable enough.

They were way off course, headed for some unknown island in the completely wrong direction of the island they were meant to be going to. Finding Sirius and Harry's ship, she found that they, too, were going in wrong directions. Harry was going far too far to the left, and Sirius was headed back to shore. She chuckled, hoping he'd noticed. If he was still going in the wrong direction by tomorrow, she'd send him a patronus, if he didn't make it to shore before then, in which case he would find out for himself that he was headed the wrong way.

Listening for a moment or two, she realised that the storm had died down. She wondered briefly what time it was, and decided to head up on deck to find out.

The sun was nowhere to be found. The sky was sprinkled with stars as far as the eye could see. It was so gorgeous...it reminded her of the times on the Horcrux hunt, when she'd be on watch. She'd look up at the sky and it would be so easy to decipher the constellations high above them, for the sky was so clear and the stars were plenty.

Her favourite to find was always Draco the Dragon. She always insisted to herself that it was because she had to find two others in order to find the particular pattern and _not _because of the very handsome person who was now on her ship.

Hermione looked around to find there were only a few men on deck, keeping watch through the night. She was very proud.

Hermione approached the men and they all smiled at her as she neared them.

"'Ello, Cap'n," said Sawyer. "Sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you," she said. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more help during the storm. What's the verdict?"

"We don't mind that," said one of the other men. "We all respect Hermione Granger. You did help save us from him-who-shan't-be-called-by-name."

Hermione smiled. "I'm honoured."

"And for the verdict," said the only man who hadn't spoken yet. "We've got a few problems with one of the sails. We're going to need to head to land to get it fixed."

"Perfect," Hermione replied. "I've checked the maps, and we're headed to a little island. It's about two leagues ahead."

"Aye," said the first nameless man who spoke. "That be El Isle de Esmeralda. She be safe enough, if we stick to shore."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

The second unknown man spoke. "She be full of cannibals, deep on the inside. They don't hardly come to shore, 'course."

"We should be safe enough if we stick to shore and don't go messing around with their things."

"Thank you very much, gentlemen," Hermione replied. "That's important to know. May I ask your names?"

The first nameless man spoke. "Joe."

The second spoke. "Henry."

Hermione smiled. "And I know you, Sawyer. It's a pleasure to meet you, Henry and Joe."

"It's a pleasure to serve you, Cap'n Granger," said Henry, and Hermione bowed slightly before leaving them. They were all standing at the wheel. Hermione crossed the ship to the starboard side and peered over the edge, watching the crashing water beneath them. She shivered slightly, imagining what it would be like to plunge into that water. She figured if that happened and she were rescued, she'd never be able to live a normal life again. She was terrified of the ocean, and didn't want to ever have to make direct contact with it. Even if she was a pirate.

Draco lay in his bunk wide awake, his head rested on his arms. He'd dozed a bit after Longbottom had sent most of the men down to bed, but he had far too much on his mind to do some actual sleeping, despite how dead tired he was. He couldn't even keep his eyes opened, but once they were closed, his thoughts bombarded him with questions and no answers and he was completely incapable of sleeping.

He decided a quick walk around up on deck would help clear his mind, at least long enough for him to catch a wink of sleep. So he climbed out of his hammock as gracefully as one _can_ get out of a hammock, and he sat on the floor as he pulled on his boots and laced them up. Then he, as quiet as he could in his clunky boots, climbed up on deck.

He ran his fingers through his hair and made his way to the port side to begin his walk. He marked his spot by a screw in the railing and headed right. When he made it all of the way back around 3 times, he would go back down and get to sleep. But this was a big ship, and if he went slowly, he figured he'd be walking at least fifteen minutes.

Something caught his attention as he was walking, and he stopped short, unsure of what he should do. Should he go back down to bed, or should he ignore her and just walk around her? Or should he make his presence known?

He couldn't think of what to do. Soon he found that he was simply standing there, staring at the captain as if he were insane. He heard laughter, and looked up at the wheel of the ship, where several men were standing, watching him as if he were some sort of animal.

He glared. "Something funny?"

"Just your apparent infatuation with Cap'n Granger," a man Draco knew to be named Sawyer commented.

"I am not _infatuated _with her," Draco replied.

"You hear that, men?" Sawyer said. "Blondie here _isn't _infatuated with the girl he's been staring at since we got on this ship."

Draco continued glaring. "You don't know me."

"Oh, I don't, _Draco Malfoy?" _Sawyer replied.

Draco held his ground. "No. You don't. And if you did before, you don't anymore. I'm different now."

"I'd believe him, Sawyer," said a man named Henry. "He left the last battle and helped Sirius Black back to life. I'm thinking he's on his own side."

"I am on my own side," Draco replied.

"Very well, then," Sawyer said. "You're on your own side." He grinned. "That doesn't mean you don't fancy Cap'n Granger."

Draco's eyes narrowed. He glanced back at Hermione, who was watching the water, and headed up next to the three men who were currently poking fun at him. "What does it matter to you if I do or I don't anyways?"

"It matters to us because we're old men without wives anymore who want to see the younger generations happy," said Joe. "Why don't you tell her?"

Draco smiled without humour and shook his head. "It's not that easy. I mean…I did _try _during the final battle…"

"You probably didn't try hard enough," Henry said.

"If kissing someone isn't good enough of an indication towards one's feelings, then I don't know _what _is."

Sawyer blinked, then burst out laughing. Draco looked over his shoulder to make sure Hermione hadn't looked over at the noise, but she was still preoccupied by the ocean.

"I'm sorry, lad," Sawyer said. "Have you tried talking to her about it? Maybe she's thought it over and has an idea as to her own feelings."

Draco shook his head.

"Well, now, don't be a coward!" Joe exclaimed. He turned Draco around and shoved him in Hermione's direction. "And don't come back until you tell her how you feel!"

Draco blinked and began to tentatively make his way towards Hermione, his only thoughts on how strange it was that he'd just received relationship advice from three middle-aged sailors.

**...**

**Hey! ^^ I hope you liked this chapter! I'm finally on summer break, so I'll have a bit more time for writing. If I'm not updating quick enough, feel free to chew me out. I need a good kick in the butt to get me going every once and a while.**

**Bye, now! ^^**


	8. Chapter 8

Sirius looked back and forth between his compass, his map, and the view before him several times for several minutes. Something was telling him he was going in the wrong direction. The first was that his compass said he was heading south when, in actuality, he was meant to be going north. The second was that he could see land before him, and there was no possible way they could have made it to the island already.

"Cap'n?" said a man with an unusually high voice.

Sirius set down his compass and turned around with a grin, hoping he wouldn't look as confused as he felt. "Yes, sir?" Sirius cleared his throat. At least, he thought the man was a sir. He couldn't recall taking on any woman. But even so, this _man_'s tan skin seemed _very smooth,_ and he was quite petite. Also, he was wearing a suspiciously large hat and a scarf that covered most of the lower portion of _his _face.

"We be headed in the wrong direction, Cap'n," he said. "Shall we turn the ship around?"

Sirius continued grinning. "Of course! I had just deciphered this problem myself. I'll relay the information to the crew. Thank you for your help."

The man nodded. "Aye, Cap'n."

He turned around and walked away. Sirius watched. _He _had a very feminine sway to _his _hips.

"Hm…" Sirius said as he turned around, stroking his beard. "Very suspicious…"

At just that time, a silvery creature splashed out of the ocean and up onto the ship. Sirius had to catch himself before he let out a girlish scream and he steadied everything on the table. He took several deep breaths when he realised it was only Hermione's patronus.

_You're headed in the wrong direction. When you get everything straightened out, come to the Isla de Esmeralda, which I have highlighted on your map. We have something to discuss before we head to our islands again._

Sirius nodded at the otter, which jumped into the water and dissolved as it touched the ocean. Sirius looked down at his map to see that there was a blue outline around a certain island not too far from where he was. It would take a day at most to reach it.

_If _he turned the ship around.

"Alright, men!" Sirius called. "Let's turn this girl around. Head hard North-East! We're headed for the Isla de Esmeralda."

"But…Cap'n!" Exclaimed one of the men. "That Island be inhabited by cannibals!"

Sirius marched to the centre of the crowd of his men. "Listen up, because I'll only say this once. We are all men. I've hired you on only because I trust that you're the strongest of your lot. And besides that – we've all survived the war through its toughest times! Doesn't that mean we can do anything?"

The men were shaky, but they began to work again, following Sirius's orders. He never had been too good at the whole motivational speech thing. But hey, they were listening to him, and that's all that matters.

"I for one think we should just go wherever we were originally headed and skip the Island!"

Sirius's head snapped in the direction of the girlish voice he had heard earlier. "Oh, yeah? And why is that?"

"Because I don't want to risk my life!" he exclaimed. "Not for something so foolish! What's there that we have to see, anyways? Besides our impending doom?"

"Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter," Sirius replied. "They've got news for us. Apparently, it's news that we can't go on without, or they wouldn't ask us to risk our lives for it."

"That's ridiculous," the man replied angrily, but he returned to mopping the deck. "If they can send you a patronus, they can send you the information. We don't need to stop."

"You didn't have to take on with me," Sirius pointed out. "We're close to shore and you look like a good swimmer. If you don't want to come, go on and leave."

The man ignored Sirius in a very girlish way. And that was when Sirius was positive he wasn't dealing with a man, here. Sirius was an expert at woman. He knew he had a woman on his hands, and he knew he was going to reveal her.

"In due time," he muttered to himself. "In due time."

…

Harry stared down at the man he had tripped over, his eyes almost as wide as his.

Or _hers._

"You are a woman."

The girl beneath him rolled her eyes. "What gave me away?"

Harry shook his head and sat up. He held out his hand and pulled the girl into a sitting position as well, allowing her hair to fall completely from the hat she had apparently been using to hide it. She placed a hand on her head where it had made contact with the deck, wincing, and Harry blushed. It had been his fault. He hadn't been watching where he was going and he'd tripped right over a barrel, knocking the both of them to the deck.

"Why are you dressed as a man?" Harry asked after a moment.

She sighed, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Because we saw your godfather turn away a few girls earlier in the day. My friend and I need to get to this island, though. My family's fortune resides there, along with thousands of spell books and other magnificent things. And we need to get there before my mother does. Because if she does get there, there's no telling what she could do with all of this powerful magic."

Harry's brow narrowed. "Who is your mother? No one should know about this island besides the Black family."

The girl looked at him with large, serious blue eyes. "Bellatrix Lestrange."

Harry swallowed hard. "That means you're a…"

"A Lestrange, yes," she replied. "But Rodolphus is not my father, so I'm really a Snape. I was raised in secret by my father. Only a few people know I exist."

Harry's eyes widened. "Snape and Bellatrix?"

"Yes, but no one knows," the girl replied. "No one's supposed to know. I shouldn't have even told you…"

Harry smiled. "You can trust me. It's okay. I know your father. He works for me and the Order now, and he trusts me. At least, I think he does. And I know he's a very trustworthy man, who must have had his reasons. I'll help you get there before your mother does, and everyone will help. What is your name?"

She smiled. "Lily Jane."

Harry smiled as well. "Harry Potter, at your service. And if you had only explained your situation, we might have let you on without you having to adopt a disguise," Harry said with a smile. "I'm a bit more understanding than he is. How's your head?"

She winced. "Fine, I think."

Harry got to his feet and reached out his hand to help her to her feet. She took it. Harry noticed that it was very soft. When she'd been standing only a few moments, she nearly crumpled into Harry's arms.

"Oh, boy," he said, holding her by the elbows. "I think you hit your head pretty hard, there. Let's get you to my quarters so you can rest, alright? I don't think you have a concussion, but it doesn't hurt to be careful."

She nodded, keeping her eyes closed as Harry laced an arm around her waist. He helped her to her room, where he had her laid down in his bed. She was asleep in minutes.

…

She was still asleep several hours later, and Harry couldn't help but stare at her. She was gorgeous. Her skin was very pale, like both Bellatrix and Snape, and she had her mother's crazy curly hair. He could see that she had Snape's eyes, though they were very blue and not black like he had. She had his lips as well. As much as he hated her mother, Lily Jane really was quite possibly the most beautiful girl Harry had ever met.

Shaking his head, he returned to the deck, where the men were working to turn the ship in the right direction. They couldn't just turn back around as Harry had hoped. They had to sail clean around a giant boulder in the middle of the ocean, which would take them quite a bit of time. With a sigh, Harry turned to head to the kitchen for his supper.

He was distracted by what he knew to be Hermione's patronus gliding through the water. It jumped up on deck to relay its message.

Harry nodded. Then he turned to the men, who had all heard the information.

"Alright, men!" He called. "You heard her! Head for the Isla de Esmeralda."

After he quieted the little bit of protesting that was inevitable, Harry headed to the bow, where he watched the water pass by. He felt a bit guilty. Yes, he was dating Ginny, and yes, he loved her…but Lily Jane was just so…perfect.

He shook his head. He'd only just met her. How could he be feeling this way so soon? He shouldn't be. He really shouldn't be.

Well, this was turning out to be quite an adventure, wasn't it?

…

The Previous Night

…

Hermione jumped nearly a foot in the air at the sound of someone coming near her. She looked over her shoulder and sighed.

"It's you," she said, trying to slow down her heart. She offered up an awkward smile. "It's…ahem…It's a beautiful night. Look at all the stars…"

Draco looked absently up at the sky, but didn't say anything.

"I guess it's really cleared up since the storm passed," she went on, not exactly knowing what she should say, since she really didn't know their relationship status at the moment. What was she supposed to say? "The weather's really nice, too." She mentally slapped herself. Really? The weather? "I guess that happens after a storm, huh? I wonder if there'll be any more. You think?"

Draco smirked. "You talk a lot."

Hermione blushed deep scarlet and looked back out at the ocean. "Sorry," she muttered.

Draco shook his head. "It's not a bad thing, I suppose. Just sort of funny."

She looked at him and narrowed her brow. "Funny? How?"

"You're so awkward."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Well, I'm sorry if I don't know what to say! I don't exactly know where we stand at the moment, and the weather was really the only thing I knew we had to talk about! Or did you want to just stand here awkwardly in silence?"

He only shrugged.

Hermione made a sound in the back of her throat and threw up her hands. She shook her head and rested her arms on the railing, leaning out over the water. What was with this boy?

"I'm sorry for kissing you at the Final Battle."

Hermione blinked and looked at him. "Why are you sorry?"

Draco hoped she couldn't see his blush in the dark. "I shouldn't have kissed you so suddenly and then just run off. It wasn't right. But I wasn't sure I would ever see you again, and I just…"

Hermione smiled and shook her head. "Think nothing of it. I mean, we were all doing pretty rash things that day. Ron practically proposed."

Draco winced. "You're – er – you're still going out with him?"

Hermione shrugged. "I mean…I guess so…but I don't know. Sometimes I feel like we're only dating because everyone expected us to, rather than because we want to."

Draco made a face. "That's no way to live. I should know. I've spent my entire life living the way other people expect me to."

"Speaking of which," Hermione replied, trying to turn the conversation from herself. "You left the battle. No one's heard from you since. And then…you showed up and saved me in the Department of Mysteries? What were you doing? Whose side are you on?"

Draco's face closed as he turned to look back out at the water. "I'm making my own side."

"And that involves saving me?"

"Saving you was an accident. I only happened upon you and felt it would be wrong to let you die."

"Then why were you there?"

"I was making my own way."

Hermione glared. "Which means? You jumped pretty quick on this when we said we were taking down the death eaters. Is that what this is? Do you have any information on the Death Eaters?"

"Yes."

Hermione waited for more. "Is that all I'm going to get?"

Draco said nothing.

"I'm going to take that as a yes." She shook her head, yawned, and stretched. "Well, it's really late. I'm going back to bed. Goodnight, Draco. I hope you sort everything out in that mind of yours soon so I can actually have a conversation with you sometime."

With that, she left. As soon as she was downstairs, Draco groaned and slammed his head onto the railing. He left the deck to the sound of drunken laughter from the three men whose advice he had failed to take.

…

**Whoop! There's chapter eight, and things are picking up! ^^ I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know if you did – it makes me super glad to know you like what I'm doing. **


	9. Chapter 9

"Neville!" Hermione exclaimed as she burst through the door to his quarters.

He bolted up in his bed and threw off his blankets, standing up quick as a flash. He wore only his pants and his hair was in complete disarray.

"Hermione?" He said, squinting as he tried to bring himself fully awake. He fumbled for his wand and lit the candles around the room. "What's going on? Are you alright?"

Hermione nodded. "I'm fine, I'm fine. But you're never going to guess. Draco Malfoy is on this ship!"

Neville's eyes squinted in confusion. "Malfoy? What would he be doing here?"

"He's got information on Death Eaters," Hermione replied. "But the only thing he'll tell me is that he's trying to 'make his own way.'"

Neville continued his confused squinting. "The hell does that mean?"

Hermione threw out her arms. "I have no idea! But it's all he'll say whenever I ask him something. What should we do?"

Neville moved to the end of his bed and picked up his shirt, then began putting it on and buttoning it up as he spoke. "We need to call Sirius and Harry."

"We're headed straight for an island; I told the crew to stop there for repairs," Hermione said. "Should we ask them to meet us there?"

Neville nodded vigorously. "Yes. Send them a patronus. Where's Malfoy?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know; I left him up on deck. He's either still there or he went down to his bunk. What are you going to do?"

Neville stopped in the doorway. He turned to Hermione with a smile. "Don't worry. I won't beat him up or anything."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well, go easy. He seems…different."

Neville snorted. "Malfoys don't change. But I'll take your advice."

He left the room, then, and Hermione took a deep breath and held out her wand with her eyes closed, preparing to create her patronus.

She was quite surprised to find that, when she searched for her happiest moment, which was usually when she discovered she was a witch, she turned, instead, to the day she received her very first kiss by Draco Malfoy.

She shook her head to herself after the patronuses were sent.

"What the heck is wrong with you, Granger?" she muttered as she left the room.

…

Neville went up on deck and began searching for Malfoy.

"Hey, there!" Neville looked up at the wheel, where three men stood watch. "First Mate! You lose something?"

"Not exactly," Neville replied. "Tell me, have you seen a tall blonde boy anywhere? Probably leaving evil in his path?"

The men laughed. "Little Malfoy? Yeah, we seen him. After making a terrible flop at trying to confess his love to our dear Captain, he banged his head on the railing for a couple of minutes and headed back down to bed."

_Confess his love? _Neville thought, but he shook his head and gave the men thumbs up. "Thank you!" He called before heading below deck.

"_Malfoy?" _he whispered once below deck. _"Malfoy, don't make me wake everyone up on your account."_

"_What do you want, Longbottom?"_

Neville looked in the direction of Malfoy's voice and approached his hammock. He took Malfoy by the sleeved and dragged him up on deck.

"What are you doing here?" Neville demanded once they were away from all of the sleeping seamen.

Draco glared at him and crossed his arms. "You tell me! I was just sleeping all peacefully before you dragged me up here."

"You're up to something," Neville replied, crossing his arms as well. "You're that boy covered in mud who jumped at the chance to come aboard when you learned that we were going to get rid of all of the Death Eaters. What do you know?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Draco replied, narrowing his eyes. It was obvious he was lying. "I'm just trying to…reform. To…make my own way."

Neville nodded. "Hermione told me that's what you were saying. Well, we'll get it out of you eventually. You'll see."

Draco laughed once. "Get what out of me? I'm not lying! I know nothing." But he looked to the left – a sure sign of a lie.

"Uh-huh," Neville said, looking Draco up and down.

And that was the last word.

…

_Forward, after last chapter_

…

They were able to bring their ship right up close to island. They stayed right up on the beach, taking care to not go too far up, towards the forest, which Sawyer made perfectly clear was infested with cannibals.

Hermione stood before the ship, her arms crossed as she watched the men work on the ship, patching it up. Amongst the workers was Draco Malfoy, whom she was watching intently, and Neville Longbottom, whom was also watching him intently.

She was very suspicious of him, and knew she had every right to be. There was something just not right with him. He knew something, she was sure of it. That's why Harry and Sirius were on their way – together, they'd get whatever it was out of him. And hopefully they wouldn't be eaten by cannibals while they worked at him. And who knows? Leaving Draco to the cannibals would be an excellent threat if it came to it.

"You should think about naming her."

"Hm?" Hermione replied absently to the man who had sidled up beside her a few moments before to watch the progress.

"The ship," he explained. "It be bad luck having a ship on the waters with no name."

"Oh, you think?" Hermione replied. She was never very superstitious, but it wouldn't hurt. "Maybe that's a good idea. We need all of the luck we can get. I'll think about a name. Thank you. What was your name?"

"Ryan," he replied, grinning toothily at her. "Well, I'll talk to yer later, Cap'n Granger."

Hermione smiled at him and nodded. "Yes, thank you again."

He tipped his hat at her and Hermione stared off at the ship, contemplating names, when someone began shouting about a ship just off a ways, and Hermione climbed aboard to peer off at the horizon, where a ship was, indeed, heading straight for them. She sincerely hoped that it was Harry or Sirius. She didn't need a confrontation at present.

…

"There be your bloody island," said the person who was quickly becoming the bane of Sirius's existence. "Let's just get there and get off before nightfall. If I'm killed –" she cut off there, but Sirius knew she had planned on saying something.

"Yes?"

She shook her head. "Never mind. I just better not be killed."

"Got a wife and kids to go home to?"

She seemed surprised at first, then realised he must have thought she was a boy, as she was obviously planning, and replied, "No, I be but a lonely bachelor. No one out there for the likes of me."

"Ah, that isn't true!" Sirius exclaimed. "I mean, just look at me! I'm in my thirties and I have no one – I missed out on the last couple years of my life! – And I still believe there's someone out there for me. Maybe this is your adventure. Maybe there's someone on this very ship who was meant for you."

The "man" leaned against "his" mop and gazed at Sirius a moment before snorting. "Ye should be a writer or a poet or something. I don't believe ye were cut out for this seamen's work."

Sirius glared. "Are you questioning my manhood?"

_He _laughed. "I'm doing no such thing. Now, I've got a deck to swab. I'll talk to ye later."

Sirius shrugged as he watched her move on past him, scrubbing hard at the deck with her mop. Then he turned and pulled his telescope to his eyes, peering off at the island in the distance. He could clearly see Hermione's ship, and there were tiny little people scattered all around it, working to make repairs. It didn't look too badly damaged but, then again, he was about three and a half leagues from where the ship was, and he didn't have such a good view.

He shrugged again as he closed his telescope and he placed his hands on his hips. He couldn't wait to reveal that "man." He planned on doing it tonight, and he planned on doing it well.

Boy, was he ever excited.

…

Harry slept on the floor the night before, and he was at his desk, studying his map, trying to decide how long it would take them to reach the island from the Isla de Esmeralda if they left that night and watching out for any other ships around their own that could hold Bellatrix Lestrange, when Lily Jane finally came to her senses. She woke up with a groan and brought her hand to her head. She shook out her curls and looked around the room with a yawn. She blinked when she saw she was not alone.

"Harry!" she exclaimed. She blinked and shook her head. "I mean…Captain!"

Harry smiled and stood from his desk. "No need to be so formal. Harry is alright. It's what my friends call me, at least."

Lily Jane smiled. "Are we almost to the island?"

Harry shook his head. "Not the Island you're looking for. We're on our way to the Isla de Esmeralda."

Her eyes widened, horrified. "But -!" She shook her head. "You can't be serious! It's inhabited with – cannibals!" She was shaking as she got to her feet, and she stumbled a bit. Harry managed to catch her by her elbows and settle her back on the bed.

"Hey, don't get so worked up," Harry replied. "We'll be perfectly fine if we just stay along the beach. And we'll make it before your mother gets to the island. She can't get there by magic, and there aren't any other ships around, not for miles and miles."

She shook her head. "You don't understand. If no one is there to get everything before she gets it, the whole world is doomed! It will be all my fault and –"

"Hey!" Harry shushed her. He smiled. "You forget who you're talking to. I'm Harry Potter. The fate of the entire world resting on your shoulders is kind of my thing. And I came out all right! Well, except for the secret spell that kept all of the Death Eaters alive…but I'm working on that! We're headed to that island for the spell book, so we can reverse the spell and send all of the Death Eaters back to the grave."

"With Sirius?"

Harry nodded. "He's our way in."

Lily Jane sighed. "I guess you're right…but you have to promise me that if anything happens, you'll take everything there – the fortune, the spell books, the relics – anything that could hold powerful magic. If my mother gets a hold of it –"

Harry shook his head to quiet her. "Everything will be fine. And nothing is going to happen to you. I'll keep you perfectly safe. No one will die while I'm around."

Lily Jane sighed, content, and leaned back against the wall. "I don't know what it is about you but… I feel assured. Thank you."

Harry shrugged and ran his fingers through his hair with a smile. "Don't mention it. I've been trying to reassure people my entire life. I guess I'd have to have mastered it at some time or another. Now, you still look pretty tired." Lily Jane accented this comment with a quick yawn. Harry smiled. "Why don't you go back to sleep and I'll wake you when we reach the island?"

Lily Jane nodded and she curled up on the bed again, asleep in minutes. Harry left her to herself, then, and headed up on deck. He could see both the Isla de Esmeralda and the ship belonging to Sirius just ahead. Behind him he saw nothing but ocean, and he wanted to keep it that way. Someone catching up with them was not something he wanted to happen.

**...**

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	10. Chapter 10

Sirius's ship reached the island first. Hermione greeted the man with a smile and a hug.

"Sirius!" she said happily when she pulled away. "I'm glad you made it."

"Thanks to your maps," Sirius said, scratching his head awkwardly. "If it weren't for them, I probably never would have known I was going backwards."

Hermione laughed a light, almost too deep laugh. She was stressed and everything about her was forced. "Don't mention it."

"So, what's the big news?" He asked as he turned to watch the progress of repairs to Hermione's ship, squinting in the light of the setting sun. It had taken nearly all day to reach the Isla de Esmeralda. From where Harry's ship was now, it would take him until at least midnight to reach them. "Is your ship reparable?"

Hermione nodded. "Because it's so big it's taking a lot of magic, and the majority of these men only know simple repair spells, it's probably going to take the rest of the next day, even with Draco and Neville's educated skill."

"Yeah, that makes sense – wait." His eyes grew wide and his neck nearly snapped as he turned to Hermione. "Did you just say _Draco?"_

Hermione smiled wryly. "Recall taking on a quiet boy covered in mud who signed with the letter 'M?'"

Sirius's eyes, if possible, widened further. "That was Malfoy? The boy aiming to 'make his own path?'"

Hermione nodded solemnly. "The very one."

"This is terrible!" Sirius exclaimed. "Should we leave him on the island?"

Hermione's face was sardonic as her lips turned at the corners and her eyes moved in a half eye-roll. "Under normal circumstances I wouldn't even hesitate to leave the boy on this island with nothing but a pistol and the clothes on his back, but these aren't normal circumstances. Not at all."

"What do you mean by that?" Sirius asked.

Hermione sighed and finally turned from the ship, facing Sirius. "He knows something he's not telling us. Something about the Death Eaters. And I can't help but feel that it's very important to our cause."

"But if he's trying to help end the Death Eaters, then why would he keep information from us?"

Hermione shook her head. "I've absolutely no idea. I can't figure it out. I've only known since last night but, in all of my thinking time, I've been completely unable to decipher what exactly is going on inside that boys head."

Sirius looked back out across the ocean. "When Harry gets here and we explain, we'll have to think of a way to crack him."

Hermione nodded. "I agree. But for now, let's head over to the mess tent."

Sirius grinned. "I am _always _read y to eat."

Hermione laughed. "I know."

…

"_He's here?"_

It was a little past midnight, and Sirius, Hermione, Neville, and the newly arrived Harry were seated in Hermione's cabin aboard her ship while everyone else slept for the night.

Neville nodded gravely. "Yes. And he knows something about the Death Eaters. Something he's not letting on. We need to think of a way to get the information out of him, but I have no idea what to do. He seems adamant in keeping his secret. I've no idea what to do about him."

"We'll get it out of him," Harry replied firmly. "All we have to do is threaten him. We're on an island infested with cannibals. It shouldn't be too difficult to get him to fess up. Especially if we slip a little veritaserum into his drink." He winked and pulled the vial from the bag he kept over his shoulder.

Hermione's eyebrows narrowed. "Why do you have that?"

He shrugged. "I've got all sorts of things in here. Anything I thought might have been necessary."

Sirius laughed. "Harry, I thought Hermione was supposed to be the overly-prepared one here."

He shrugged and ruffled his hair. "I guess I learned from the best."

Hermione laughed and shook her head. "Well, I guess that's that. We invite him in here tomorrow, offer him a spiked drink and get him talking. Since he won't know his drink has been spiked, he won't know to use forms of resistance, unless he happens to drink the antidote with breakfast, which is unlikely. Anybody have any other news?"

There were a few moments of silence before Harry raised his hands awkwardly. "There's this girl on my ship…"

"Girl?" Sirius said, thinking of his own cross-dresser, the one he planned on revealing tonight. "How many girls did we accidentally hire on?"

Hermione glared at him.

"Wait, you mean there's a girl on your ship, too?" Harry asked.

Sirius nodded, suddenly grumpy. "I'm 99.9% positive that it's a girl. She's been a thorn in my side since we left. I plan on telling her I know her secret tonight."

Hermione looked at him warily. "What do you plan on doing?"

He smiled deviously. "I plan on flipping her hammock over. All of her girly hair will spill out of her ridiculous hat and she'll be so stunned that she'll forget to talk like a man. It's perfect."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sirius, you can't do that. You should let her know in private. I'll come with you if you'd like."

"Aw, that's no fun!" Sirius whined.

Harry shook his head. "Anyways, back to the girl on my ship. Sirius…she's your second cousin."

Sirius squinted at him. "Roxanne?"

"Huh?" Harry shook his head. "No. It's one you don't know of. Her name is Lily Jane."

"Well, who's the cousin who forgot to tell me I had another relative?" Sirius asked, getting a bit impatient.

"She's the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange…and Severus Snape."

Sirius was so stunned that he couldn't speak for an entire thirty seconds.

"Bella got with _Snape?" _He said finally. "Huh. Who would have guessed?"

"No one; that was the point," Harry replied. "Snape has been trying to keep her hidden. I have no idea how she got away, but now she's after the fortune and the spell books and the rest of the Back family's heirlooms. She doesn't want Bellatrix to get to it."

"I don't blame her," Sirius replied. "If Bellatrix got a hold of any of that stuff, we'd all be in huge trouble."

Harry nodded. "I told her we'd get it before Bellatrix and we'd use it to get rid of the Death Eaters," he said. "She's really anxious. She wants to get off of this island and get to the fortune before her mum."

"How did you get her to tell you she was a girl?" Sirius asked suddenly.

Harry blushed. "I sort of tripped and knocked her over…when her hair fell out of her hat she was kind of easy to figure out."

"Huh," Sirius replied, suddenly lost in thought.

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure that I gave her a concussion. She ended up having to sleep in my quarters." He paused. "Now that I think of it, I'm glad I didn't send her downstairs. It probably isn't safe for a girl to be with all of those pirates."

"Where is she now?" Hermione asked.

"She's with her friend," Harry replied. "I'm assuming she's the girl from Sirius's ship. And since everyone thinks the girl on Sirius's ship is a man, she's safe. At least, I hope she is."

There was a silence following his last sentence.

"Final thoughts?" Neville said.

"Right," Hermione replied. "I was informed today that it is bad luck to have a ship with no name. Therefore, I believe it only best for all of us to name our ships."

"I call Black Dog!" Sirius exclaimed. He punched his hand into the air and cheered as if he had just won the name through an argument.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Okay…Harry? Do you have any ideas?"

He shrugged. "How about…_The Ginny?"_ He figured this was a good way to try and squelch his rising crush on Lily Jane. He was Ginny's boyfriend and he had to stay faithful.

Hermione smiled. "That's sweet. Alright. We've got the _Black Dog _and the _Ginny." _She turned to her first mate. "What do you say?"

Neville held up his hands. "You're the Captain."

"Alright, then," she replied. "Then I choose the _Constellation."_

"Ooh, that's clever," Harry said. "What made you think of that?"

Hermione was shocked by the explanation that came into her mind. "Erm…well you can see the Big and Little Dipper through that window there."

Harry nodded as if to say "That makes sense."

In Hermione's mind, though, she was saying, _"And between them is Draco the Dragon."_

…

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	11. Chapter 11

Hermione woke up early the next morning and headed outside before anyone was awake. She headed up onto the beach with a bag of her personal items and took a seat in the sand outside the ship, leaning back on her arms and looking up at her big, beautiful ship. After this mission was over, she was keeping it. She would be a cargo ship, or she would take missions on the ocean. But she wanted to keep her ship. The _Constellation. _She stood up and, with a wave of her wand, in perfect script, the word _"Constellation" _was scrawled across the side of her new baby.

Then she stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder, headed up the beach and into the brush. She knew everyone had told her not to go alone, that there were cannibals in here, but she couldn't help it. She smelled awful and she needed at least a short dip in some fresh water. She didn't want a spell, she wanted an _actual bath. _She was a girl; so what.

She listened hard – for both rustling around her and running water. She heard the latter, but it didn't seem that there were any other people around, so she let her guard down. She looked around once more before she set her bag down on a rock near a huge pool. She smiled giddily and jumped up and down, excited for finally getting to wash off. She unbuttoned her jacket and threw it onto the rock and then moved to unbutton her shirt, which she left on as she stripped off her pants and underwear. Then off came her shirt and her bra, and she crawled up onto her rock and did a cannonball into the water. She popped up and closed her eyes as she pushed her hair back, then dipped in further and hugged herself, relaxing.

After a few moments she moved over to her bag and pulled out a bar of Castile soap, which she rubbed over her body in every place she could, and then she lathered it into her hands and she scrubbed her hair and her face.

It felt beautiful.

She rinsed off in a very small waterfall and then leaned against her rock, content to just rest.

Then –

A rustle.

And her wand was just out of reach.

As fast as she could, she ducked under the water, hoping her breath would hold out until whoever it was went away. Just go away.

…

Draco was up far before the sun. He headed out on deck and climbed up to relieve the lookout and stared out at the beach, watching the trees sway and the little animals scurry along the beach, occasionally turning to make sure there were no other ships around and thinking all about the information he and only two other people knew.

He'd talked to Lily Jane and Madge last night and they had their plan all figured out.

"I'm not sure…" Lily Jane had said, hugging her arms close to her. "I really don't want to deceive Harry like this…"

Madge had only rolled her eyes. "He's just a stupid boy, Lily Jane. One you met - what? Two days ago? Just forget about him and stick to the plan, or everything is going to go bad."

Draco glared at Madge. Lily Jane had been one of his best friends since he knew her at practically birth, and he had a huge soft spot for her. Madge was a close friend of Lily Jane's and _very _protective, but she had no emotions, if Draco's opinion said anything. She was harsh.

"It'll be alright, Janey," Draco said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Harry will understand – trust me. Once everything happens, he'll understand why we needed to do this."

"Why can't we just let Harry do it?" Lily Jane replied, staring at her lap. "I mean, it doesn't have to be us, does it?"

"It's your inheritance," Madge replied, shrugging. "You deserve it. You need to do it, or your mum will have control over you for the rest of your life."

Lily Jane scratched her dark mark with a sigh. Then she nodded.

"You're right, of course," she replied. "I just want to get it over with."

And after much more reassurances that Harry wouldn't hate her after all of this, he had gotten Lily Jane into bed, Madge had pinned up her hair and tied her bandana around it, and Draco had placed a minimum of five protective charms around their tent. Then he slipped off to bed, and had woken up only a few hours later.

And here he was now. He rested his chin on his hands and was halfway asleep when he saw movement.

"What's she doing up?" he mumbled to himself before curiosity got the better of him and he climbed down from the lookout, ready to follow her.

She sat down on the sand just as he made it down from the lookout, and he had just enough time to duck down before she noticed him. He heard a strange, ripping sort of sound and assumed she'd used some sort of spell on the ship. Then he heard shuffling as she stood up, and he heard her humming to herself. So he stood up as well and, quickly as possible, he climbed off of the ship and ducked beneath the rail as she turned to make sure she wasn't being followed.

_Is she crazy? _He demanded of himself. _There are cannibals in there! Better follow…just in case._

He followed along behind her, the skills he gained as a Death Eater coming in really handy. Quiet footsteps, quiet breath. She never even suspected him.

Especially not when she stripped down and jumped into the pond.

Draco closed his eyes, the only thing he saw her smooth back. He opened his eyes when he noticed the splashing had stopped and saw her just resting there, her skin glistening, only her neck up visible to him.

His thoughts flitted momentarily to that day, the Final Battle, the moment after he'd decided to make his own way. After he'd done something he'd been wanting to do for years, but still shocked him to this day.

He wondered how she felt about it. He wished he would have just asked her about it when he'd had the chance.

He mentally slapped himself in the face.

_What is wrong with me? _He snapped at his self.

Then, rustling. Out of the corner of his eye he saw him, a dark man with a spear, staring firmly at Hermione, unaware that Draco was here.

He turned around and headed off, supposedly to get more men, and Draco, not sure how much time he had but willing to take his chances, leapt into the pool, grabbing Hermione's towel along the way. He wrapped it around her body, which was completely submerged in water, and then pulled her above the surface. She opened her mouth to scream, but Draco quickly and firmly placed his hand over her mouth and glared at her. He put a finger to his lips.

"Draco?" she screamed, and Draco slapped his hand over her mouth again, his eyes widening angrily.

"Shut _up_, you _twit," _he snapped in a whisper. "We're surrounded. We have to get out of here."

"What?" she replied, still too loud, and Draco was sick of it. He pulled his wand from his pocket and had her silenced in seconds. She glared at him, appalled, but he waved his wand and all of her belongings were packed. He lifted her from the pool and threw her over his shoulder, handed her her bag, and he began to move – fast.

"What on Earth were you thinking, coming out here by yourself?" Draco demanded, not entirely expecting an answer. "We'll be lucky if the cannibals don't come out and attack us now. You're just lucky I saw you and decided you needed a body guard. And that I noticed that cannibal watching you. Otherwise you might have been stew already."

They reached the beach and Draco set Hermione on her feet, removing the spell from her so she could talk. Her face was angry, like she was about to start screaming at him, but then she sighed and clenched her eyes shut tight. "Thanks. For that. I'm sorry to have put you through the trouble. Good day."

Draco only smirked as she turned and walked away in nothing but her towel, her bag hanging from the hand that wasn't holding up her towel.

That girl was just something else.

…

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	12. Chapter 12

After Draco had scanned the horizon of trees pressed up against the beach and was thoroughly convinced that they hadn't been followed by the devious inhabitants of the forest – at least for now – he headed back up to the ship – the one which, he noted, Hermione had decided to name _The Constellation. _He decided it was probably a good idea to take up his position as look out once again – anything could happen, especially on these waters, and he didn't want it on him that the sailors were without fair warning if anything _were _to happen.

So he returned to the ship. He shimmied up the mizzen mast and made his way to the foretop, where the lookout he had relieved had been scanning the horizon intently. Before he'd left, he'd said that he thought he had spotted something off in the distance, but it had been too difficult to see in the dark, and had implored Draco to keep a wary eye out.

Draco wished he would have.

He cursed Hermione for making him leave his spot. Because now there was going to be trouble.

He carefully and strategically dropped from up above and dashed below decks to the Captain's quarters. He didn't care that, under normal circumstances, _no one _was allowed into the Captain's quarters – all that mattered now was the large ship headed for them, the one that could hold any number of people. The number, of course, didn't matter when it came down to the fact that they had three full crews – what mattered was the side these impending visitors were on.

Draco pushed through the door, hearing a _crack! _as he broke the lock right off of the wooden door. Hermione spun around, completely startled, holding her shirt in front of her naked body. Draco was frozen for a moment before he came to his senses and turned around respectfully.

"There's a ship," he said, perfectly calmly. "Come up when you're decent."

Hermione pushed passed him, somehow, miraculously, already completely dressed in her leggings and oversized, button up white shirt. She'd even slipped on her boots in the short time Draco had been stunned. In one hand she had her telescope, in the other a cutlass. She had made it halfway up the stairs when she turned to Draco, eyebrows raised.

"Are you coming or what?" she demanded to know before she turned without waiting for an answer, quickly ascending the staircase.

Draco shook his head and composed himself, also running up the stairs.

"All hands on deck!" Hermione shouted. "Prepare for anything!"

"Hermione?" Harry said, coming up from below deck of his own ship, calling across the small gap between the _Constellation _and the _Ginny. _"Hermione, what's going on?"

Hermione was peering through her telescope. And there it was, just as Draco had said. And there was a figure standing at the front of the ship, long hair whipping in the wind.

The person wasn't familiar, but it was still too soon to breathe a sigh of relief. Not only were these waters infested with pirates, but they were infested with pirates who knew of the Black Family Treasure, and would be willing to do anything to get rid of the competition.

To answer Harry's question, she lowered her telescoped and pointed with her cutlass to the oncoming ship.

Harry slowly turned to take in the oncoming ship, his jaw dropping. Then he shook his head, his hair, tousled from sleep, flopping into his eyes. "All hands on deck!" he shouted, scrambling for the staircase, for all the world looking like a chicken with its head cut off.

As Harry slipped below deck, still bellowing orders, Hermione turned to Neville, who had come up beside her and was staring solemnly out at the ship across the ocean. "Get weapons to all of the men."

He nodded. "What will you do?"

She looked around at all of the men who were rushing about and knew just exactly what she was supposed to do. "I'm the captain, aren't I?" she said. "I'm going to fight."

Neville nodded. He knew fighting with her about this would be ridiculous. And she had fought braver than anyone else in the final battle not too long ago – she was an outstanding fighter. He should have been worried for the other pirates.

The first blow was shot – a sailor on Harry's ship toppled over from what appeared to be a weak form of the cruciatus curse. It still hurt, no matter how weak, and the man stood up in an unspeakable rage. He locked onto his target and fired, blowing an enormous hole into the side of the ship. The hole, however, was too high up to do any proper damage besides knocking over the men on top and perhaps harming a few below deck. Hermione fired the next shot, managing to blast two or three men off of the ship and setting one of the sails on fire.

The fight was on. The pirate ship really was no match for the three fully manned ships, and the battle ended quickly. The ship was in pieces and floated to the shore. The waves brought pieces of wood, stolen treasures and dead and injured men alike.

Hermione walked among the men. Anyone who had died she straightened out their bodies and placed protective charms upon, to be sure that the cannibals stayed away. Anyone still alive she knocked out long enough so they could finish repairs and set off again.

She found the Captain alive and took him into her tent for questioning with Neville as backup. She soon found he was basically incompetent and thought that the treasure was just that – treasure. He knew nothing of the black magic and how terrible it would be if it fell into the wrong hands.

She wiped his memory and let him go gather his remaining crew members so they could figure something out.

She and Neville shared a drink and marvelled over their great luck – not a single of their men had been injured during the battle. Everyone was well again, even the man who had been shot at first, and, at the rate their reparations were going at, they would be off of the Isla de Esmeralda before nightfall.

Hermione leaned back in her chair, her gaze trained on the wine in her half-full glass. It was very good wine, very expensive. She'd found it in one of the many chests that had washed up on shore. She had found many riches, and split it up amongst the crew. She felt like a real pirate. She smiled to herself.

She heard Neville chuckle and looked up, a fresh smile on her lips. "What?"

"I was going to ask you that," he said as he poured himself some more wine. "What was that smile about?"

Hermione shrugged. "Oh, nothing. Just thinking about what a strange turn my life has taken."

He raised his eyebrows. "How so?"

"Well," she said, setting aside her wine glass. "Just think. I mean, if my life were how I had imagined it would be when I was still back in first year, I'd have completed my seventh year of Hogwarts and I'd be a healer or working at the ministry. But now it looks like I'm a pirate. I never would have guessed."

Neville laughed. "Life is funny sometimes. Who'd have guessed I'd be the one to get married first of all of our friends?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're not giving yourself enough credit."

"Neither are you," Neville replied.

Hermione raised her eyebrows now. "Oh?"

"The life you planned out was simply just too boring for you," he said with a shrug. "So Merlin stepped in and made everything right again."

Hermione smiled. "I think you might be right about that."

Neville downed the rest of his wine. Then he stood and motioned to Hermione before he set down his glass. "I'm not often wrong. I'll see you in the morning."

Hermione smiled and hugged him when he hugged her, then glanced down at her desk. She heard talking outside the door, but ignored it. Her eyes had found something new – a journal she had found in a vault that had been bashed open against a reef.

It must have been the Captain's – it was simple, beautiful, bound in leather. The first page was dated with today's date, but there were no entries. And according to the several searching spells she had used on it, it was just an ordinary journal. Perfect for Hermione to begin recording her strange new life.

She searched her desk for a quill and some ink and was about to begin her very first entry, when someone burst through the door.

"Lily Jane is missing."

Hermione was startled. She pressed herself back into her chair and stared in fear at the man in front of her. When she realised it was only Draco, she sighed in relief and sat up straight.

"Pardon?"

Draco was having none of it. "Lily Jane. She's missing. We have to find her."

"Who?"

Draco snarled at her. "I'll go look for her myself if you're going to be so utterly _useless."_

Hermione, enraged at how rude he was being, got to her feet. "Excuse me, but I'm sorry if you're too stupid to explain your problem to me. I'll help you find your friend. When was the last time you saw her?"

"Before the battle. She was with Madge in her tent." Hermione was having difficulty following him, both because of his long strides and the fact that she had no idea who these people were.

"Who's Madge?"

"The other girl you guys let on," Draco replied.

"Where's Madge?"

"Probably with Lily Jane," Draco responded. "I can't find her either."

"Draco, will you stop for a minute?"

He turned around fast, towering over her. "I will not."

Hermione wanted to tell him that she had merely wanted him to pause so they could come up with an actual plan or put together a search party, but her tongue was suddenly frozen and her heart had stopped. Her body didn't begin working again until his fierce eyes had turned off of her face and he began his quick pace again. She tried to keep up with him on her wobbly knees, wondering what had come over her.

**...**

**That…took me way too long to write…**

**Well, next I plan on updating Romeo and Cinderella, so my followers of that story, check it out when it's done! ^^**


	13. Chapter 13

They weren't with the pirates, which could only mean one thing - they were somewhere in the forest.  
>The two decided not to split up - though they could cover more area, it was far too dangerous. So they recruited the help of Sirius, Neville and Harry, and they split into two groups so they could search the whole island.<br>Draco looked as though he were going to puke, he was so nervous and afraid. Hermione didn't blame him at all - this was a terrible situation. And although she didn't know exactly how close he was with these girls, Lily Jane and Madge, she had to assume that she would be afraid for even the most distant acquaintance who was unlucky enough to fall victim to the cannibals. She wouldn't wish that upon anyone.  
>She tried to keep his mind off of it for a while - she spoke about the Order and the ship and what this mission was all about - but when she noticed he wasn't listening to a word she said, she stopped speaking.<br>After a few minutes of silence, however, Draco spoke up. "Can you keep talking?" he said softly. "I need to hear a voice. I think you're the only thing keeping me sane right now."  
>Hermione couldn't deny that she was a bit surprised to hear him say something so vulnerable, but she nodded and agreed.<br>"Okay," she began, and she wracked her brain for something to say. She finally settled on her journey to save Sirius, and then she moved on to different things that had happened to her throughout her years at Hogwarts.  
>After a few moments of silence when Hermione was in the midst of transferring topics, Draco snorted softly. "It's funny how different our Hogwarts experiences were," he said quietly. Hermione almost didn't hear him, but she was close enough that she caught every word.<br>"How so?" she asked.  
>But then they heard a sound and both stopped walking, talking, even breathing. They pressed their bodies close together and up against the closest tree, ducking down into the underbrush and peering out to see several feet walking by. Hermione was stuck beneath Draco, who was crouching tightly over her, so she couldn't see what he saw, but she heard his sharp intake of breath and felt his body tighten and coil, tense, severely unhappy, and she knew that what he saw was something that he couldn't unsee. She knew he saw his friends.<br>They needed a plan. Hermione's mind was racing with all of the possibilities, but they needed something quick, something soon, something fast.  
>Pointing her wand in the direction the men had been coming from, she set off a blast that toppled several trees off in the distance.<br>The footsteps stopped, as did Draco's breathing. It was as if he were talking directly into her mind - she could almost hear him asking her what on earth she thought she was doing.  
>The truth was, she really had no idea. But she was panicking, and it seemed to work.<br>The cannibals spoke together in a language Hermione couldn't understand. Then more than half of them turned around and ran off towards the tumbled trees to see what had happened, and the rest made their way at their own pace in the direction they had previously been headed.  
>That got rid of several opponents.<br>Draco shifted to allow Hermione up, and they crouched low, following behind the group of natives.  
>That was when Hermione could see what Draco had seen, and she truly wished she had kept her eyes shut. They had obviously been beaten, as their faces were bloody and swollen. They were both tied up and being dragged on the dirt behind. These people evidently did not know to keep their food in good condition, but that was the least of their problems. Hermione could see smoke from a fire off in the distance, and her stomach sank. She knew just what that fire was for, and she had to stop it.<br>The two sped up a little, hoping to make it to the destination before the Natives did. It was a difficult feat, especially because the men were so attuned to the woods that any rustle that didn't sound primitive caused a deep suspicion and they had to be very, very quiet. They finally made it, only to find another horror: the camp was packed with people, Natives and captives alike.  
>Hermione looked across at the faces - there were a few of her own crew here, several pirates, and even people who must have been tied up for days, maybe even months, as they were skinny and dirty and looked completely demoralized.<br>Hermione's heart went out for them, but she had no idea what to do. She'd only made it this far off of luck and quick thinking that could have gotten them killed had she not continued to act fast. There was no way she could fight off an entire tribe with solely good luck. They would need help. But she knew that Draco wouldn't want to leave. She'd have to somehow convince him in a quiet way that wouldn't lead to an arugment.  
>"Come on, Draco," she whispered, nudging him. "Let's go get the others. We have to save these people."<br>Draco shook his head. "You know that's not possible. Let's just get Lily Jane and Madge and let's get out of here."  
>Hermione blinked. "But what about our crew members?"<br>"Hermione, they're half dead anyways. They'll be of no use to you."  
>"Don't be ridiculous! If they're half dead then so are your friends!"<br>"You don't understand -"  
>"No, I guess I don't!" Hermione noticed her whispers becoming much too loud. She lowered her voice a few notches more. "No two lives are more important than the lives of all of these people. We have to save them."<br>"Granger -"  
>"I'm going for help. Don't do anything stupid. Or I'll send you in there as bait."<br>Draco looked very upset, but he knew he couldn't stop Hermione. He didn't think so, but perhaps she had a point, and he was willing to find out if she was right. It might save Lily Jane.  
><strong>...<strong>  
><strong>I finally finished this! Gosh, I kept picking it up and putting it back down again. No matter. Here it is. ^^ I'm starting to let my writing go a bit, which I don't want to do. You people need to kick me back into shape!<strong>  
><strong>Also, I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews. They're all fabulous! :)<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**I have decided I really need some sort of psychological adjustment so I stop leaving my beloved fanfiction for so long.**

**I've got some mood music playing so let's see if I can get some of this out.**

**...**

Hermione knew her luck could only last her so much longer. After fighting for what seemed like days she was knocked on the back of the head by something that she was sure was a branch, but she wasn't so sure because she was quickly unconscious. When she woke up she was tied to what she knew for a fact was a branch and she was propped up beside the night shift lookout from her ship.

"Captain Granger?" he whispered frantically. "You gotta get yourself outta here! You're on a mission, arencha? We don't matter if you don't go through with it!"

Hermione's voice was slurred when she whispered back. "I'm not leaving you guys behind. My life isn't worth all of yours."

"But it is," he replied. Hermione was so sorry that she didn't know this man's name. "Captain Granger...most of us are crooks who signed up just to avoid going to the big house. None of us would be makin' much of our lives if not for you."

"What is your name?" Hermione said when he stopped speaking.

"You can call me Chess," he replied.

"Well, Chess," Hermione said, finally coming to most of the way. "I'm going to get you and every one of these people out of here safe and alive."

Hermione pulled her wrists free. Sometime during Chess's speech, Draco had aimed his wand at her wrists and undid the tough bindings.

Then she took a chance. Luckily, she and Draco were on the same page.

Pulling her wand out, she began undoing the hand bindings of everyone in the clearing before she was apprehended by the natives all going about their business - cooking, cleaning, pottery and taunting the captives.

A small boy was the first to notice that the shocked prisoners were suddenly falling free of their fastenings. He called to his mother, a woman slicing roots with a bamboo razor. The woman stood and revealed that she was broad-shouldered and muscular, and quite terrifying with her knife held just so.

Unsure of whether or not these guys could use magic, Hermione blasted the razor from the woman's hand and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, they had voodoo on their side, and suddenly, thanks to their medicine man, they were all trapped within the clearing by some sort of invisible barrier. It was a fight to the death, then.

Or just a fight to kill or maim the medicine man.

It was like a good game of Doctor Dodge-ball.

"I hope you're ready for a fight," Draco said as he passed her by, headed straight for Lily Jane, whom they hadn't managed to untie at the time.

Hermione took a deep breath and took a shot.

.

Meanwhile, Harry, Sirius and Neville had heard the commotion and had moved on to check out what was going on. When they reached the source of said commotion, they were surprised to find that there was a war raging on.

Sirius was the first to attempt to join and help. However, the moment he tried to enter the clearing, he was shocked and pushed to his back.

"What the -" he shook his head. "What was that?"

Harry bent over and picked up a stone. Then he pulled back his elbow and snapped his wrist forward, throwing it against the force field. It flew backwards and sent a tremor through the whole field.

"Do that again, Harry," Neville said distractedly, looking up into the trees.

Harry shrugged and picked up a slightly larger stone, throwing it with all of his might against the field.

Neville pointed up. "I don't think it protects from the top." He looked straight ahead, into the clearing. Then he pointed to a man inside of a tent. He was sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, hands rested on a branch covered in knots. "I think he's creating it. If we can send some kind of a hex at him, we can destroy the force field and help them out."

"Neville, I'm fairly certain that entails climbing these trees," Harry pointed out. "Which then also entails that we have to climb down from them without dying. I'm not sure this is the best plan."

Neville shrugged and pointed behind Harry. "Sirius seems to think it's a pretty good plan."

Harry turned to find his godfather already scaling the heights. Neville jogged off to join him and Harry slapped his forehead. "If I die, I'm coming back to kill them."

.

Hermione was exhausted, but there was absolutely no time for a break. Apparently, there were several wizards in the small cannibal tribe on the Isla de Esmeralda, and they knew spells Hermione had never even dreamed of before. Fighting them was the greatest challenge Hermione had ever faced because she never knew what to anticipate.

Lily Jane could really hold her own, which made sense, considering who raised her. She and Draco were circling, saving each other and taking out a large amount of the attacking tribesmen.

Hermione slashed her wand sideways, easily knocking back a boy maybe two or three years younger than her. But that used a bit of focus and Hermione didn't notice someone come up behind her and attempt to reach for her wand by throwing their strong arm around her neck. Choking, Hermione wasn't so sure she'd be able to struggle out of this one.

The arm suddenly went limp, followed by the body connected to it, and Hermione spun around nimbly, sending a quick _stupefy_ to make sure the man was down for good. She looked up, finding that it was Draco who had saved her.

She nodded at him to thank him and then turned back to the fight, sawing down the tribesmen as she once more tried to make her way to the medicine man at the far side of the encampment.

"Get down!"

Hermione immediately ducked at the words, and so did every other English-speaking member of the clearing. There was a blast from above and the force field fell. The tent that had covered the medicine man was in flames.

Anyone who could run was immediately headed for the beach. Hermione continued to fight off tribesmen and directed the able-bodied on the way to the beach and to each take at least one person who couldn't take themselves.

When she was sure it was just she, Draco, Madge, Lily Jane, and Harry left in the camp, Sirius and Neville having carried several people back to shore, Hermione fled, followed by the others. The tribesmen pursued them for almost a mile but they soon stopped, deciding it was futile to fight for their supper against all the people fighting back.

"We have to get out of here," Hermione said, using a _sonorus_ to speak with everyone on the beach. "Crew, get back to the ship. Everyone else, I've sent a patronus to the ministry. There should be aurors and healers here momentarily to bring everyone back to St. Mungo's. Good luck everyone. Let's get the hell out of here."


	15. Chapter 15

The ships made their way from the island at an extremely fast rate. Hermione let everyone know that there would be no more stops - they were headed for their island and would be there in a day or two.

Hermione stayed in her quarters for the majority of the ride there. Draco was the one to finally come to her and tell her that land had been spotted.

Hermione wasn't quite sure how she should react to Draco's presence anymore. Part of her felt that their life-or-death situation had caused them to become closer. But another part of her still felt distant from him - she still wasn't quite sure what he was here for and why.

She simply nodded and walked with him to the front of the ship. She took the telescope he offered her and peered at the abandoned island. More jungle. She shuddered.

"It'll be another day's journey," he said. "Also, we're being pursued."

Hermione nearly dropped her telescope in alarm.

"Wait, what?"

Draco nodded. "Come with me."  
>He took her to the other side of the ship and pointed out to her a ship about half the distance away from her as the island.<p>

"Is it Harry or Sirius?" she whispered, not quite sure why.

"Longbottom says he doesn't think so," Draco replied.

Hermione shook her head. "We barely escape one issue and run headfirst into the next one." She handed the telescope back to Draco. "Alright. We'll just have to fight them off. If they try anything, I'm putting you in charge of getting rid of them. You got that?"

He just nodded and Hermione paced away from him.

This was a lot of stress. She wished she could just bury herself in a book like she usually did when she was stressed. Instead, she spent the rest of that day trying to alleviate the stress of the others on the ship. She spoke with Neville for a long period of time, discussing the what ifs of different situations and trying to make sure that everyone would be safe and that they would make it to the island, retrieve what they needed to, and return to Grimmauld place.

And then she couldn't stop thinking about Draco. She hated him, that much she knew. But...was it possible that she had other not-so-negative feelings for the Slytherin? No, he wasn't much of a Slytherin right now. He didn't think so at least.

He certainly was different. She could tell just by looking in his eyes.

All of their eyes changed after the horrors they'd witnessed. But deep within the horrors, Hermione had seen a light, and it had come with the abrupt kiss of Mr. Malfoy.

She caught him in the corner of her eye quite often throughout the day. He kept his eye off towards that ship. Sometimes he would put down the telescope and squint in order to see if the ship had gotten any closer. Then he would sigh or shake his head and he would walk away anxiously.

Why did Hermione want to comfort him?

So she would also sigh or shake her head and walk away anxiously, in search of someone else she could make feel better who wasn't someone she was beyond confused about.

...

Harry was worried that Lily Jane was acting differently toward him now that they were back on the ship and together again. He knew it was probably better this way - he did still have Ginny back home, and any thoughts he had about Lily Jane led him to be more guilty than he'd ever been, but he still really wanted Lily Jane to like him, despite himself. It made him feel sick to his stomach whenever he thought about it.

"Are you okay?" he asked her one night when they were dining together in his cabin.

She looked up at him, evidently surprised at his question.

"Yes, of course," she replied. "Why?"

Harry couldn't quite tell if she was lying or not. "Because you seem...distant."

She shrugged. "I'm sorry. I guess I've just been thinking a lot about the fact that I was almost eaten alive just a day ago. I should be more careful."

Harry sighed, forcing himself to believe that this was all. "I'll help you be more careful."

She grinned at him. "Thank you, Harry."

She stood and crossed over to him, kissing him on the cheek. "I'm off to bed. Goodnight."

Harry did not see her face contort as soon as she turned away. He did not know that she fell against his door the moment she left and clutched at her chest. He did not know she was sobbing; sobbing because she was confused and because she didn't know if she trusted the people who were trying to help her not be confused.

She didn't know what to do or who to go to, but she knew that she liked Harry and didn't want to do this anymore.

...

WOW SHORT.

Sorry about that! :( But this was a good break spot I thought. It would seem so disengaged if I started the next part here...


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